New Delhi, March 9 (IANS): The human resource development ministry on Monday launched a "Digital Gender Atlas for girls" in a move to identify and ensure equitable education for girls in the country.

The tool, developed with the support of Unicef, is hoped to help identify low performing geographic pockets for girls, particularly from marginalised groups on specific gender related education indicators.

"To ensure this is feasible, the Gender Atlas has been developed as a hands-on management tool to enable critical decisions and actions in pockets where gaps are to be met," the ministry said in a statement.

According to government statistics, the total enrolment of girls in the primary classes is 48.66 percent while the percentage in secondary is 47.29 percent.

"Girls comprise half the population of school age children, and therefore, it is important to understand the multiple vulnerabilities they face in different areas in order to plan and prioritise inclusive interventions," the ministry stated.